Random tips for new(er) cubers!

1 year ago

Speedcubing Advice

Hi everyone - this blog is primarily aimed at beginners who haven’t been speedcubing for very long, but some of this advice might be useful for others as well.

When you learn something new for your solves, understand that you’ll probably get slower before you get faster. The biggest example of this is the transition from solving one piece at a time (using Layer by Layer) to solving two pieces at a time with F2L techniques. However, there are certainly many other times where you’ll need to change something you’re doing, slowing you down in the short term but improving yourself in the long term. It’s important to always think critically about your solves and not fall into lazy habits - the earlier you catch something, the easier it is to fix. Whether you learn a new fingertrick, new algorithm, or new method, it’s unlikely to make you faster until you’ve practiced it a significant amount in your speedsolves.

I’m not sure that 100% of people will agree with this one, but my feeling is that beginners shouldn’t learn all their habits and fingertricks on magnetic cubes. Especially when you’re very new to speedcubing, I think it’s more beneficial in the long run to practice your fingertricks, algorithms, and solves on a non-magnetic cube before ever switching across to a magnetic cube. The thinking behind this tip is that you’ll subconsciously develop slightly better turning accuracy on non-magnetic cubes, which is an important skill in all speedcubing events. In situations or events where you don’t have a magnetic puzzle, your times won’t be affected too much. The general consensus is that transitioning from a non-magnetic puzzle to a magnetic puzzle is almost effortless, but going in reverse is a lot tougher. This bit of advice might become outdated pretty quickly given that magnetic cubes are practically becoming standard-issue.

Colour neutrality is much easier to achieve if you begin doing it as soon as you know how to solve the cube. Colour neutrality is the ability to begin a speedsolve with any colour. Because you don’t have any habits formed, the concept of starting with the easiest colour cross (or block) is quite intuitive. Generally speaking, the sooner that you try and switch to colour neutrality, the easier the process.

Looking ahead in your solves is more important than turning quickly. When I started cubing, I tried to copy Yu Nakajima’s turning speed. This didn’t go very well as my cube would lock up or pop, and I just had massive pauses and inefficiencies in my solves. Trying to control your turning speed is definitely easier said than done - the constant temptation is to turn as quickly as possible if you know what moves you need to do next. It’s definitely possible to get very quick times but still maintain a calm and relaxed turning style.

Practice ‘mirroring’ your algorithms on both sides of the cube in order to develop your turning ability with both your left and right hand. This is a useful skill for anyone who uses the CFOP method, as using one specific hand for most of your solving can be quite restrictive. If you have the ability to use both your right and left hands to insert F2L pairs, this can help you avoid rotations in F2L, and adds flexibility to your solves. For an additional challenge, try and mirror some of your PLL algorithms. As an example, the ability to perform (L’ U’ L U) (L F’ L2’ U L) (U L’ U’ L) F quickly can help you avoid doing things such as (U2 + T Permutation + U2). This sort of thing gets a bit more complicated once we start to consider ‘riskiness’ of algorithms, but that’s something to worry about later on.

It’s the cuber, not the cube. As a beginner, you don’t need to spend too much time and/or money getting the latest and greatest speedcubing hardware, it’s unlikely to make a significant impact on your times. Of course, if you like testing and collecting cubes and editions and have the cash to spare, then nobody is stopping you. However, if you feel like you *need* to get the latest 3x3 cube on the market because it’ll cut 10% off your time, know that it’s probably not going to happen. This doesn’t completely apply to highly competitive cubers, or for puzzles/events where hardware is still improving - better hardware can definitely make a difference for people whose improvement rates have slowed down, and for some WCA events, is a driver of improvement.

Learning and memorising algorithms will become a lot easier once you have more experience. For many newer cubers, the task of committing a single algorithm to memory is quite daunting, but once you go through the process many times, and discover how often certain moves and fingertricks are repeated, the process becomes a lot easier. You’ll have to trust me on that.

This tip is aimed at intermediate cubers who have just finished learning PLL and have started the journey to full OLL. The tip is - don’t be scared of the 57 OLL algorithms! It definitely sounds like a lot, but a) you already probably know a bunch, b) they’re a lot shorter than PLLs, c) the recognition is easier, and d) unlike PLL, many of them are just slight variations to algorithms that you already know. I remember being rather scared of them at first, but ultimately found that the task of learning them all was much easier than I had imagined in my head.

Go to a competition, if you can! WCA (World Cube Association) competitions are not just places where people go to get their solves recorded officially, they also function as community events. Almost every single WCA competition is completely open for anyone to attend and compete regardless of speed and experience. They’re a great way to meet other cubers and most people are more than happy to give advice regarding competing and share their perspectives and solving techniques.

Try not to compare yourself with others, focus on your own improvement and the things that you are able to control. This tip is more relevant for people who are attending competitions or are generally competitive individuals. It’s fine to have friendly competition with others, or try and race to achieve some sort of goal. However, I don’t feel like trying to beat others is a healthy primary motivation. For example, my mindset when going to competitions isn’t “I need to beat Jay in all these 3x3 rounds or else I’ll have failed”, it’s more like “I need to prepare well and concentrate in order to achieve the best times that I can in all the 3x3 rounds”. Sure, there’ll be plenty of times where things don’t go perfectly, but those should ideally be viewed as a learning experience, rather than a failure.

Try out different events! If you get bored or frustrated with just practicing 3x3, keep in mind that there are so many other different WCA-recognised speedcubing events. Learning how to solve a different puzzle, or techniques for variants on the classic 3x3 (such as blindsolving, and FMC) can help you gain a greater appreciation for cubing as well as help your understanding of the cube.

Thoughts on this blog

Tyler Dunn Posted 1 year ago

I think this is really great motivation, and advice to improve as a cuber! Feliks never fails to post something interesting, and new on the website to improve cubers of all skill levels!

Minh Le Posted 1 year ago

Wow. Thanks!!!

Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 1 year ago

I try to make my solves flow fluidly without stopping, but the problem is that I only solve the first F2L pair I see while looking ahead and it's usually a really bad case which leads to other bad cases and makes everything inefficient. It's easier to spot an incorrectly connected pair than a simple 3 move insert edge and corner case. I also turn slowly to avoid any small pauses. How can I spot easier F2L pairs better?

Robert McLaughlin Posted 1 year ago

Interesting. I am new to this fun and frankly useful hobby. I recently learned ‘beginners method’. It is different than the method in your video. After solving the white cross and moving to fill in the white face by placing corners, I keep the white face on top and rotate the white corners pieces directly below their correct positions on top. My fastest algorithm (reflex rather than thought) is R’D’RD. Depending on position, repeating algorithm 1-5 times places corner correctly. I found method on the internet. I am at 2.5 minutes to solve. I was about to learn 21 PLL permutations, but now I think I should start over and learn to fill the white face on the bottom to begin.

I understand that it is better to learn efficiency in the long run, but being new it is difficult to give up a habit that is effortless but slower and be willing to initially go slower to become quicker. Good advice.

I also just purchased the GAN356 AIR UM. It arrived today. I will have to decide which of my cubes to practice on based on turning speed development. One note: I am slightly color blind. It is very difficult to decipher orange from red on my new GANS.

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

@Robert It is also useful to start working on Color Neutrality now which is solving the cross on different sides it is harder to learn later on and also if you are color blind it is best for you to get rather pink on your red side and a dark orange or flourescent orange and dark red for sticker shades and finally while your learning to solve on the bottom check out Feliks' F2L tutorial it is a good way to kill 2 birds with one stone well 3 birds in fact with color neutrality. Happy cubing and cheers!

Karl Makinano Posted 1 year ago

Hey feliks I'm really struggling on 3x3 could you make a blog having tips on specific time barriers like tips for sub-20 cubers,tips for sub-15 cubers etc.I have watched all the 3x3 videos and still struggling to reach sub-15.Thank you for all the hardwork and time you have spent to help others improve I really appreciate it.Thanks a lot.

Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 1 year ago

Thanks Tyler and Minh!

Cuberious - The big positive here is that you've established your lookahead ability to the point where you *are* able to see an F2L pair immediately, even though it might not necessarily be the easiest one. Even myself and other sub 10 cubers definitely miss seeing easy pairs in solves either because we're turning very quickly or focused on tracking something else, so don't worry too much about making your solutions completely perfect. Especially if you're just at the beginning of F2L and there are perhaps 3 different F2L pairs on the top face, it's very very hard to determine which is the best one in a short amount of time. That being said, if working on efficiency is something you think you need to do, then I'd highly recommend doing untimed solves for a little while to help with that.

Robert - Yep, that bit of advice can probably be applied to many other things, not just cubing!

Karl - Best place for that at the moment is the "How to get faster" blog post, but it just has three major segments (beginner, intermediate, advanced)

Ethan Varn Posted 1 year ago

That last part about your motivation is really inspiring. The fact that you don’t think about beating other people or outdoing them as much as you can, but instead focus on yourself and understand it doesn’t always go right is amazing and if I become as fast as you or other world class cubers I’m gonna try to have the same mentality. :)

Ethan Varn Posted 1 year ago

I do have a question though, what does it feel like to get a world record?

Max Chan Posted 1 year ago

This helped and I'm a sub 12 solver!

Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 1 year ago

Ethan - I used to think more along the terms of trying to beat people, but the performance of other cubers is completely out of your control. And, it feels great haha, the initial feeling is probably similar to just getting a really good pb, but you get to enjoy it more and for way longer :)

Max - glad to hear, haha.

Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 1 year ago

So what you're saying is that I should only start the timer and try to be efficient instead of rushing to hit the timer while making a bunch of mistakes along the way

Robert McLaughlin Posted 1 year ago

William - Sound advice. That is the route I will take. Efficiency is the name of the game.

Feliks - It seems to me that the vast majority in this handy hobby (forgive the pun) are Non-Zero Sum (John Nash) type players. I base this on the many videos I have recently watched. It is absolutely refreshing to see such genuine excitement and sincere congratulatory support amongst the group toward an individual that has just broken a world record. This overall characteristic is also evidenced in the blogs I have read for the most part. It is the mark of a healthy and cooperative competition. There is a teacher in you. Good advice!

Ben Soelberg Posted 1 year ago

Thanks for this post. It is good information, and just what my son needs to hear. He is pretty competitive. We are both looking forward to meeting you in 2 weeks in Fresno!

Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 1 year ago

Thanks Ben - looking forward to meeting you and your son there. Seems like it'll be a smaller comp, so hopefully a bit more relaxed!

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

Feliks' has the WCA announced or released any hints as to where world champs will be this year?

Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 1 year ago

William - World Championship happens every 2 years

Robert McLaughlin Posted 1 year ago

For color neutrality I have ordered plain white stickers. I will print on each either an R,O,B,G,W,Y letter. Then I am going to learn to solve without color at all by using just the letter notation designating which color the label would otherwise be seen as being.

Robert McLaughlin Posted 1 year ago

I am curious. Anyone’s feedback on this question will be greatly appreciated.

Use of an algorithm is quite straight forward, however, the creation of an efficient algorithm is different. Computer algorithms are the essence of efficient programming skills. In order to become an efficient programmer, while the use of mathematics is required, it is not necessary to understand extremely high level mathematics to become a programmer. At a minimum, Algebra can be used solely. Everyone can remember the slope of a 2D line as simply the change in the y axis divided by the change in the x axis. Calculus is simply determining the slope of a 3D line using limits or integrals at its core and then many more problems may be solved using the basics of limits. Differential Equations simply takes Calculus to a higher level. Remember, coding basics require only a knowledge of Algebra in its simplest form. I asked one of the better coders working for me about the cube and what his thoughts are relative to cubing equating to coding in essence. His response, a very high level programmer, was that they are basically the same. So, here is my question.

How many cubers create their own algorithms and how many find computer programming of interest to them?

Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 1 year ago

Who programs those algorithm generators?

Robert McLaughlin Posted 1 year ago

We are not at the point of singularity. That is a point in time that should frighten everyone.

sun yifan Posted 1 year ago

Hi Feliks!I heard about the Wuque Mini M will be sold in 1 month, and did you get the cube? And now I use Cubing classroom mf4rs (from 2018 Shanghai International Expo :)), average about 1'45''. So when can I use Wuque or Wuque Mini? sub 1? Please give me some advices!

(I think GAN460M is good too)

Arisandra Soo Posted 1 year ago

Ooh definitely be recommending this post to beginner cubers. Thanks for your awesome tutorials, great moves, keep it up, proud of you

Daryl Aliben Posted 1 year ago

When doing OLL, do you already know if its a PLL skip or not?

Ryan Ng Posted 1 year ago

I am dual colour neutral, as I tried being colour neutral once and my times got slowed down a lot. From reading this, I know that it is important to know that trying out something new does not make you faster immediately, but helps a lot in the long term. My main problem is that my lookahead isn’t great with red, orange, blue or green crosses; I find it hard to remember what the pairs are. I will slow down my TPS when not using white/yellow crosses and gradually increase it.

There is a slight problem in my lookahead. I find it hard to get to the “Knowing” stage of your lookahead progression framework. I guess I should stop trying until my colour neutrality is good.

See you at Asian Champs!

By the way, do you know ZZ-CT or any ZBLS? Also, it is shocking that the majority of people use the Na perm starting with “z” instead of your one starting with (R U R’ U).

The PLLs I am slow at are V perm because of the rotation/ regrip, and Gd perm because of the AUF. Any tips? BTW is there a partial edge control alg for an R U R’ insertion case?

Sorry for bombarding you with questions so one last thing: I will ask you about Zeroing at Asian Championships.

Ryan Ng Posted 1 year ago

Oh yeah. I forgot to say that my average is sub 25 consistently with dual colour neutral.

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

@Ryan Ng regarding color neutrality I became color neutrality just a few weeks ago I average sub 15 on the 4 colors while sub 12 on White and yellow I always found it easier to become more color neutral by just constantly having the thought of the cross color in my head I got to this point within a month using this method it may not be fit for you but it was for me. Keep in mind your lookahead will be trash but eventually you'll subconsciously repeat the cross color in your head and focus on lookahead at the same time.

For knowing stage I usually do this for practice you first have to see what an insert does to the cube I recommend that you use a solved cube take out a pair and see how it affects the cube and build on from there with each algorithms.

For PLLs with regrips you can one of the two things you 1) find alternative algs that use wide moves or 2) what I do is rotate while I'm doing last 1-2 turns (based on those turns)

Finally zeroing is a prank idea to try to explain Feliks' quickness in speedcubing and all those videos that say things such as what he was doing on last pair in his 4.75 solve were just things he does sometimes to get better LL cases and it just happened to be a solved last layer.

Aaron Ren Posted 1 year ago

@Ryan Ng for the v perm there's a pretty long but easy way to do it. It's M2 U2 M2 ( y perm) M2 U2 M2

László Csonka Posted 1 year ago

Hello, Feliks.

I have two question to you:

1. Which is better? Cubicle or Cosmic? I want to buy a Cosmic Wushuang because my Cubicle Wushuang died but I don't know which is better.

2. What are the limits for a beginner's method user? Yesterday I broke the 16 seconds barrier in avg100 with a 15.98 seconds average. My OLLs and Plls are very slow, so a speedcuber would be much better at this. What do you think, what'd your barrier with this method after practicing? :)

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

@Lázlò Csonka in my experience with Beginners method with a TPS of around 9-(possibly 11 or 12 based on how far you want to go)10 you could very easily get to sub 10 (just to give you an image in your head of that TPS it is the TPS feliks uses) so I think with a lot of dedication you could get to sub 8 which is about 10-11 TPS to get to.

Also in terms of the Difference between cosmic and Cubicle is that SCS provides 20% discount and Cubicle is 10 but for performance I have both a cosmic Huanglong and a Huanglong I lubed with Angstrom (DNM Gravitas Dignitas Lube Black) and I like Angstrom better then Cosmic though it feels more controllable yet fast. It is also different from cube to cube on the Valk and call power Cosmic feels better than Angstrom.

sun yifan Posted 1 year ago

Hi Feliks!I heard about the Wuque Mini M will be sold in 1 month, and did you get the cube? And now I use Cubing classroom mf4rs (from 2018 Shanghai International Expo :)), average about 1'45''. So when can I use Wuque or Wuque Mini? sub 1? Please give me some advices!

(I think GAN460M is good too)

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

@Sun Yifan what method do you use? If yau then watch Feliks' advanced 4x4 which goes in depth of techniques he uses. If you use redux then watch intermediate tutorial and learn Yau I average sub 45 with redux. If you are currently using Hoya I have a few tips:

When making your first four centers make sure the first color you do is on the bottom.

Always make half of the center and build the other half right after or later on

When building cross edges first make sure to put as many edges into the cross layer as possible based on which ones can be easily inserted

When inserting the edge into each pair look out for the next one and when on the last edge look out for which case you will get for last two centers.

3-2-3 edge pairing as usual try to lookahead the entire time and when on last 2 or 3 look for your first pair for 3x3

3x3 stage as usual.

I average Hoya as sub 40

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

Feliks congrats on the your new CRs for 7x7 and megaminx

Ryan Ng Posted 1 year ago

@ William Yang Thanks for the advice!

Rajiv Nimavat Posted 1 year ago

hi faliks thanking yu and love you.

Ethan Varn Posted 1 year ago

Huge congratulations on winning nationals! Great job!

William Yang Posted 1 year ago

If anyone wants to see how well I do with Rubiks Brand cubes here is a PB Sheet